Sunday, May 13, 2012

Hollywood on Trial (1976)

Arguably the best
examination of the Hollywood blacklist yet captured on film, this solidly made
documentary features interviews with many key figures who survived that awful
episode. Clearly explaining why the changing attitudes of a post-WWWII America,
film-industry labor disputes, and opportunistic lawmakers collided in the
purging of communists and other left-wingers from the film industry, Hollywood on Trial gives heroes a venue
for recalling their shining moments and lets villains cement their ignoble
legacies. Tremendous archive footage takes viewers back to the tense days of
Congressional hearings in which movie stars and studio executives stupidly
claimed that commies were trying to take over the picture business; this same
footage shows the famed Hollywood Ten, the first professionals banned from
employment for political reasons, derailing their own defense by condescending
to their persecutors. And then, in contemporary interviews, most of the Ten
reveal the wisdom gained through the passage of time, while still issuing
righteous fire.

Given his oversized personality, screenwriter Dalton Trumbo
provides some of the more memorable moments, his pithy parade of polysyllables
amply displaying why under-educated executives perceived him as uppity back in
the day. It’s riveting to watch the great man in twilight, knowing that he and
his colleagues went to jail on matters of principle before finally undermining
the blacklist in the late ’50s and early ’60s. Yet the most poignant footage is
probably that of director Edward Dmytryk, the lone member of the Hollywood Ten
to recant his original testimony and “name names” as a prerequisite for
returning to work. Watching his face as Dmytryk tries to defend his
indefensible actions is simultaneously edifying and excruciating; one sees
glimmers of ambivalence, indignation, regret, and shame.

It’s also infuriating
to see archive footage of right-wingers like Walt Disney, Joseph McCarthy, and
Richard Nixon, since it’s impossible to discern which of them believed he was
addressing a genuine social threat and which knew he was simply union-busting.
The venerable actor/director John Huston provides narration for the piece,
which has the simplistic visuals of a ’70s TV special but more than enough
historical significance to generate consistent interest.